


Up Close and Personal, Revisited

by medical_mechanica



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Affection, Fluff, Gen, Homoeroticism, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 03:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11615295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medical_mechanica/pseuds/medical_mechanica
Summary: Takes place during Prompto's tour "Up Close and Personal". This isn't explicitly Prompto/Noctis, but it's there. After Galdin Quay, before Titan. No warnings, and no spoilers.-Before he could help himself, Prompto had brought up his camera again, snapping away at the smile that filled his vision. Before long, the face in the viewfinder fell into a sharp grimace, and there was a quick moment where the blond thought the prince was mad at him for some reason and his heart fell for a beat. However, as he dropped the camera, the blonde realized that Noctis was looking not at him, but behind him. An Imperial drop ship descended, opening up to reveal a patrol that would land perfectly between them and camp. A chill ran down Prompto’s spine.





	Up Close and Personal, Revisited

**Author's Note:**

> What do you mean this isn't how it happened? This is a lighthearted fic that's in line with the canon timeline, after Galdin Quay, before Titan. No warnings, and no spoilers. Short and sweet.

Light shone over the lake just so, casting a impressionistic reflection of the grove surrounding it, and catching the lingering dew in the meadow leading over to it. Prompto’s eyes took it all in from the safety of camp, perched on the rune-carved ledge. Fiddling with the camera in this hands, he checked the settings for the fourth time before casting a glance behind him, also for the fourth time. Behind him, the tent sat quietly as a gentle breeze brushed around it. Regret began to weigh on his mind, accompanied by a frown.

Maybe it had been a bad idea. Noct was never good at mornings.

He pouted at the tent, before looking back over the lake and at the ginormous beast that paced around in it like it was a puddle. The sun was starting to move and Prompto held back a sigh. How was he supposed to be Royal Roadtrip Photographer if the royalty in question refused to wake up and be photographed? He had started to plan the apology he would have to give to Lunafreya, resigning himself to the whims of his best friend’s sleep schedule, when he heard the tent rustle behind him. Whipping around, the gunner spotted a very disheveled looking prince as he clumsily exited the tent. With a bounce and a grin, Prompto made his way over to Noctis.

“Hiya!”

The dark haired young man blinked as if he wanted to be annoyed by the blond, sporting the frown he usually reserved for Ignis this early in the morning, but it quickly turned into a smirk once his eyes met the blond’s. Maybe Prompto was beaming, just a little.

He had been waiting for this. From the moment Noctis had asked him to go to Altissa, he had been waiting for this. A good chunk of his time packing was spent trying to envision this moment, this photoshoot. Of course, he was going to be shooting the Future King of Lucis out in the Wild of his Kingdom and All That. More importantly, he was taking a portrait of his best friend for the person who introduced them. It was just going to be him and Noct, for one of the first times in a while. 

And maybe, just maybe, he could capture all of the wonderful things about Noctis that Luna had wanted Prompto to see too.

Noctis blinked again in silence, realizing he was being stared at, “Where are we going?”

“To the slough, to shoot a catoblepas! … With my camera.”

The gunner explained his plot to pick mushrooms and lure one in for a photoshoot to his friend. Noctis looked incredulous, to say the least, bringing a hand to his hip while he considered the proposal. Prompto didn’t wait for his reaction; the sun was moving.

“Follow me!” and with that, Prompto sprinted away, hopping off the ledge and nearly fumbling the camera.  
Picking the mushrooms had been easier than he had thought, even if Prompto had slipped down the small hill the mushrooms grew on. The prince laughed at the blond with mushrooms in hand, just as he himself hit a patch of dew on his sneaker and slipped down to his knees, mushrooms tumbling down the hill. The gunner let out a ‘ha!’ in return, before he bounded off toward the spot by the lake he had been eyeing earlier, shouting a teasing “C’mon Noct! Hurry up!” Face falling into what was more of a pout than desired glower, Noctis moved to pick up the fallen mushrooms and joined the blonde by the lake as he muttered “I”m coming, I’m coming…”

Prompto was already snapping a few test shots, checking to make sure the reflection of the sun on the lake wasn’t going to catch his lens. It was not, and in fact, the warm dawn light cast the perfect shade of pale amber across the towering figure of the catoblepas. Everything was looking good. Great, even. Maybe even perfect. Noctis came up beside him.

“Alright, so I’m going to need you to stand right here with the mushrooms,” the photographer began, pointing down and stepping back as he started framing up the shot. “Wha-?” the prince blanched. “You lure him in, and I shoot!”

“You serious?” Noctis dropped the mushrooms, crossing his arms and practically huffing.

There was absolutely no way Noctis was going to willingly pose for a portrait for him, so the blond recalled a way Ignis had snuck in beans into one of their dinners one night with Noct none the wiser. The tactician had made a loaf of bread using black beans, and placed it under the one thing the prince would always eat. Meat with gravy. Noctis had seconds. The self-satisfied look that graced the bespectacled man’s face the rest of the evening would not be missed by the gunner or the shield. Well, Iggy wasn’t the only one that knew how to play that game.

“Of course, should be easy, right?” Prompto looked over to his best friend, batting his lashes through the daggers being glared into his lens in that moment.

“Yeah, easy to get my ass killed!”

Prompto let out a chuckle, ignoring the protests as he brought the viewfinder back up to his eye. Even throwing a tantrum, Noctis looked fitting as the light cascaded through his hair and over his cheeks as it slowly rose higher in the sky.

Luna was going to love it.

With a weak eyeroll, Noctis dropped his arms as he fought a smile from creeping across his face as the beast behind him finally noticed their presence. As it grew closer, Prompto had to drop the camera momentarily, taken aback by the sheer size of it.

“Hey. Are you takin’ the shot or what?” the prince’s voice gave away the unease he felt.

“Not just yet,” the blond responded, taking a deep breath. He took in the moment, drank it in. The beast was just close enough for what would make the best photo. He brought up the camera again, and allowed himself to soak in the way the shadows stretched from the forms of both the terrifyingly large tusks and future king in the early morning light, amber tones giving away to pale gold.

“Just a little closer…” he assured, adjusting his focus for the last time to Noctis’ bangs. The catoblepas was almost there… and-

“Alright, takin’ it! Strike a pose!” the blond called out.

The shutter snapped.

Of course, what with all the dignity and planning and daydreaming that Prompto had done to get to that point, Noctis decided to pose like a character from Justice Monsters 5. This was the photo Luna was going to see.

It was perfect.

Prompto didn’t have time to gloat over it, because the beast reared his massive head. “Got it! Get outta there, Noct!” At that moment, the prince looked over his shoulder and his eyes got wide. With a swing of a suddenly materialized sword and a scoff, Noctis warped away just as the beast wound up to attack. This left Prompto scrambling with his camera after the trail of magic ripped through the air. Noctis rolled out of his warp just as the blond caught up to him, and their eyes met. Prompto let out a quick glance back to the catoblepas, which couldn’t be bothered to leave the lake and proceeded to look after them, as if annoyed. He looked back to the prince. Simultaneous laughter broke out between them. It was the first time the gunner could recall his friend smiling earnestly since that morning at the hotel in Galdin Quay.

Before he could help himself, Prompto had brought up his camera again, snapping away at the smile that filled his vision. Before long, the face in the viewfinder fell into a sharp grimace, and there was a quick moment where the blond thought the prince was mad at him for some reason and his heart dropped for a beat. However, as he dropped the camera, the blonde realized that Noctis was looking not at him, but behind him. An Imperial dropship descended, opening up to reveal a patrol that would land perfectly between them and camp. A chill ran down Prompto’s spine.

“Uh… Noct?” 

“This way,” Noctis didn’t wait before turning away from the patrol and breaking out into a jog. Prompto could do little else but gulp as Noctis warped to the right, around the perimeter of the lake and the catoblepas. He appeared further down the lakeside, and the gunner sprinted after them, looking back over his shoulder to camp. He hoped that Ignis would be awake, if not soon, and notice their disappearance and the incoming patrol. Without him and Gladio, it was too risky to take on that many MT’s on directly. 

Noctis was still pretty far ahead of him, and he could hear the incoming armored footfalls behind him. What he would give in that moment to warp. He could hear a bang accompanied by the displacement of air by a bullet that whizzed past his head, and he was so startled that he jumped and slid through the dew and tumbled to the ground just as he spotted Noctis approaching a shack.

Noctis caught him as he slipped, bringing him back to his feet. The Imperial patrol had apparently noticed some sort of commotion and was coming to close on their position. “What do we do? Can we call the guys?” Panic had set into his voice, and Prompto looked between the prince and the encroaching MTs. He was strongly regretting asking his friend for the favor of a solo photoshoot. “... No time,” Noctis replied, coming up to a shack and finding it boarded shut. With a slight grunt, the prince circled the shack, the blonde in toe. The only thing on the other side was a long abandoned car. He made to circle the shack again while Prompto looked into the shell of the car, missing its doors but maintaining the back seat. He didn’t want to think about what that could mean, but he would not have had time to, because of the small approaching missile aimed right in their direction.

Without much warning, the blond found a sword flying directly at him just as the missile closed the distance. Just as Prompto thought he was going to be accidentally run through by his best friends’ sword and explode at the same time, did the prince materialize around the weapon. He kept the momentum, letting the sword shed into petals of light while he pushed Prompto into the shell of the abandoned car just as an explosion sounded behind them, and the ground and air and everything around them reverberated.

 

For several moments, everything was a ringing silence. Prompto felt panic rise in his chest and it took him a terrified moment to register that the weight on top of him was, in fact, his best friend.

“Noct,” he breathed worriedly, only to be cut off with a “Shh.” From where he had landed, he could view the top of the old car, meaning he had landed on the forsaken backseat. He was able to look down and see that the black of the prince’s shirt was darker than usual. He was bleeding. “You’re hurt!” the blonde whispered loudly, bringing his arms around Noctis’ waist to see how bad it was, which luckily was not that bad, but not daring to shift his weight any further. The prince was stretched out over him, one arm grasped around Prompto’s midsection, head buried in his neck. “It’s fine,” hissed back into his ear, pained breathing curling against his neck.

Prompto moved to pull out a potion, but heard the high pitched humming of Magitek grow closer and Noctis’ breath hitched. “Don’t,” the voice against his neck warned, potion held over his back coming to a stand still. Unwittingly, the blonde realized how hard the breathing on his neck was, heart beating against his chest hard enough to feel every beat. A faint blush crept across freckled cheeks. The high pitched humming grew nearer, and armored footfalls could be heard crushing the grass on the other side of the now blackened shed.

As if on cue, lips came to press against his ear. “You okay?” breathed the prince. Prompto took a deep breath, trying to steel himself against fear and heightened sensation flooding his senses while his best friend bled on top of him. He gave a slight nod, dark hair catching in blond. Then several footsteps seemed to round the shack, coming up slowly beside the car. A look of panic shot over Prompto’s features. The heartbeats resounding against his ribcage felt so loud, loud enough for them to be heard.

They were terribly outnumbered, separated from the very members of their team meant to protect the prince, and hiding out in an abandoned car. Prompto couldn’t protect himself, let alone his best friend. They were going to be found, and it was all because Prompto wanted to be alone together with him again one more time. The blond’s breath caught and he choked back a frustrated sob. This was not what he had meant to happen. Sensing the growing tension in the body beneath his, despite the pain, Noctis snaked his arms around Prompto’s waist. “I got you,” breathed the lips against his ear.

Prompto swallowed hard, wishing against everything that he could look Noctis in the eyes but held perfectly still. The whirring of the MT’s over the otherwise peaceful lake was almost too much for the gunner, who moved to return the embrace, carefully avoiding the wound on the prince’s back. Tears stung the corners of his eyes, and slowly but surely enough the footsteps retreated. The gunner finally broke the potion over the prince’s back, and for a blissful moment everything around the lake was very peaceful. Morning birds could still be heard chirping, the lake splashed in the background, and the breath against Prompto’s face evened out. They didn’t move. “... I got you too,” the blond replied sheepishly into black hair, bringing a hand to rest at the small of Noctis’ back. He felt a smile against his cheek, and he let his eyes slide shut in relief.

However, it was short lived as another explosion sounded several paces away from their hideout. Although panicking at first, with a familiar grunt from none other than Gladio, and both Noctis and Prompto relaxed. It was the calvary.

Noctis signed in relief before picking himself up and dragging himself out of the car. Prompto quickly followed, letting out a whoop and summoning his gun as Gladio knocked down several MT’s at once midway through the meadow.

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually one of the first FFXV fics I wrote, and I wrote it by hand in a notebook. I haven't had the urge to type it up until I realized how much I missed those two idiots. Thank you for reading!


End file.
